HTTYD: Lightning and Night
by JDunks896
Summary: Stop me if you've heard this before. Boy meets dragon, boy trains dragon, boy singlehandedly changes the traditions and culture of his tribe. This tale is different. Hiccup has support when he needs it. Someone willing to stand up for him when no one else will. Someone who learns to ride a Skrill. And it isn't his father. Rated T just in case.
1. Beginning

**Okay, I mentioned I was rewriting this, so here's the revised version. I hope you enjoy!**

 **…**

 _This: Hiccup_

This: Himinn

 **This: Both**

A massive island rose out of the water, tall peaks dark against the night sky. Two large statues, presumably of Vikings, were chiseled from stones in what looked like a harbor, torches within them projecting a sense of security.

 _This, is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing To Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery._

I seriously wonder what the HECK our ancestors were THINKING when they wrote those maps.

 _Yes, thanks, sis. Our village is, in a word, sturdy. It's been here seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems, are the pests._

A small flock of sheep was grazing on a field, completely undisturbed, until a squawk was heard. A large talon came down and clamped around one of the woolly animals, scooping it up into the air with a bleat of terror. Unconcerned, another sheep wandered over to the patch the first sheep had been eating at, and proceeded to greedily finish his leftovers.

I know what you're thinking. But, how could you have pest problems? You're vikings! The main problem, however, is that while most places have mice…

 _Or worse, mosquitoes…_

A boy with auburn hair wearing a green tunic and a fur vest opened the door of his house, just in time to witness several warriors fleeing from a winged, reptilian creature, who was all too happy to attempt arson/murder, starting with the boy. As soon as a glowing blast of fire burst from the beast's mouth, the boy slammed the door, ending out unscathed.

 **…we have dragons.**

More dragons swooped around, releasing streams of heat that sent several men, women, and woolly mammals running for their lives.

 _Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings._

Yeah! We're strong, we're fierce, and we're courageous! Right, bro?

 _No. We have stubbornness issues._

…okay, I'll give you that.

A viking sprang onto the head of another dragon with a short, flat snout- flat because the man was pummelling it with a hammer.

The same boy from earlier dashed out of his house, the previous dragon having lit it on fire. He dashed past many other vikings, apparently in quite a hurry to get somewhere, even as another viking landed in front of him.

 _My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know, but it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls._

We're superstitious that way. Besides, it's not like our charming viking demeanour wouldn't do that- oh, wait…

Hiccup was knocked to the ground by another viking after a blast of lava blew up another person's front door. The guy who had toppled him immediately held his axe above Hiccup's head, screaming a battle cry, before smiling cheerfully and saying, "Morning!".

Yeah, because when it's morning, the moon is brightly lit, and the stars are out! This guy always has too much to drink right before an attack, doesn't he?

Hiccup dashed past many vikings along a wooden pathway, most of whom shouted at him, "What're you doin' here?!", "Get inside!", and "Get back inside!". He did receive a grin, however, from a girl with auburn hair in an ponytail, wearing a purple sleeveless tunic topped with leather gauntlets and shoulderpads, wielding a pair of single-edged swords against a dragon holding a pair of chickens.

The chickens were quickly liberated, as well as one of the dragon's toes.

 _That's Himinn. She's a proud warrior, considering she's only eighteen-_

And she can speak for herself! Yes, I'm a warrior, and I'm also one of three people in the village who actually likes Hiccup, although he's my brother, so I guess I'm a bit prejudiced. I'm also part of a gang of older teens in the village who fight dragons, and attempt to train our younger siblings to do the same- or in our cousin Snotlout's case, get flamed by dragons while flirting.

 _But she's forbidden to train ME, because 90% of the village thinks I could destroy it by dropping a pebble. Moving on…_

Another dragon dove past, stopping Hiccup from proceeding with a wall of flames before the biggest, hairiest, and most muscular viking grabbed him by the neck of his tunic and held him up before the others. "HICCUP! What is he doin' out again- WHAT are you doing out?! Get inside!". He dropped the boy and shoved him in another direction.

 _That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe._

And a major pain when something ticks him off.

 _They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off with his shoulders. Do we believe it?_

Stoick picked up a barrel and chucked it into the dragon Himinn had fought with before, with the dragon staggering from the sheer force behind the fling, before flapping off again.

Hic does. Me on the other hand, I'm a wee bit sceptical.

Stoick turned to Himinn. "What have we got?" She looked around for a second before replying. "The garden variety stuff. Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Nightmares. Oh, and Hoark says he saw a Whispering Death."

Stoick fixed her with a serious glare as another house exploded and a stray spark lit up his left cape clasp. "Any Night Furies?" "Zilch, as far as I know." He nodded and swatted out the flames on his shoulder. "Good."

A shout of "Hoist the torches!" rang out as massive pillars of wood carrying flaming braziers rose into the air, the light of the fire attracting the dragons like moths to… well, a flame.

Hiccup, with his sister following- gosh, she was fast!- ran into what was obviously a forge and received a greeting from a muscular (albeit slightly heavyset) man with a blond, braided beard and a prosthetic arm cleverly fixed with a hammer head on the end. "Nice o' you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!"

Hiccup grinned and tied on an apron. "Wha-who-me? Nah, I'm WAY too muscular for their tastes." He flexed, revealing his arms greatly resembled sticks. Wait, no. Sticks were thicker. "They wouldn't know what to do with all… this."

Himinn slid into the shop with a grin. "Well, I'd imagine they need toothpicks, right Gobber?"

Hiccup ran over to a window, which he opened, allowing a few warriors to deposit weapons on the sill, which he scooped up and carried over to a table with… actually not as much difficulty as expected.

 _The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little._

Since you were littler, technically. You haven't exactly had what we'd call a growth spurt.

True enough, Gobber was changing to a different prosthetic, as Hiccup began working a set of bellows. Himinn ran up to the window and began handling weapons... in her own way. "I don't care if we're under attack, I'm gonna need three gold coins if you want a good edge on that thing!"

Stoick, meanwhile, was leading some warriors down a ramp. "We move to the lower defences! We'll counterattack with the catapults!" They charged for the aerial defence tower as a large, dark-blue dragon flew overhead and blasted a house with lightning.

 _See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses._

It's a miracle half the island is still covered in forest.

Another viking bellowed, "FIRE!", which some kids around Hiccup's age apparently took as a cue, heaving a massive barrel of water and several empty buckets, a blond girl leading them with shouts of "C'mon, you guys, let's move it!" They dropped the barrel and filled their buckets as several teenagers that greatly resembled the apparent 'fire crew' engaged a dragon with two heads that kept blasting houses into rubble.

 _Oh, and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and…_

The girl from before put out a fire and began running back for more water as an explosive blast occurred behind her and the other kids. Hiccup's imagination placed this sight into slow motion as the other kids walked behind her with scowls. Hiccup sighed dreamily at the smile he imagined was intended for him.

 _…Astrid…_

 _Yeah, their job is so much cooler._

Yes, let's have Gobber's only assistant, who helps to repair all our weapons, which we need to fight dragons, go off to fight fires the entire village thinks he'll only make worse! That's a BRILLIANT IDEA!

 _Shut up, Himinn._

At any rate, I'm friends with the ones fighting the dragon over there. Sasslout, Snotlout's sister, Helen, Fishleg's sister, Scruffnut, Ruff and Tuff's older brother, and the last one is Jardar, my wonderful boyfriend with a talent for throwing knives.

 _And therefore one of the only vikings who can stand me._

Said boyfriend chucked a throwing knife at a two-header, running over to Himinn. "You've got this?"

She smiled. "Jar, I'll be fine. I've got Hic and Gobber!"

Jardar looked over. "Gobber, if anything happens to her, I'm tying you up and using you as a target to teach Hiccup how to throw knives."

Gobber shrugged. "Fair enough."

Jardar smirked and pecked Himinn on the forehead. "Gotta go. I owe a Whispering Death a few bleeding slash marks. And maybe a broken wing. See you later, Hiccup." He took off.

Hiccup immediately made to climb out the window, but Gobber noticed and grabbed him by the tunic. "Oh no, ye don't!" Hiccup moaned miserably. "Come on, please, I need to make my mark!" Gobber smirked and set him down. "Oh, you've made plenty o' marks! All in the wrong places!" Hiccup began pleading. "Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better, I might even get a date!"

Himinn's matter-of-fact tone was probably more along the lines of deadpan. "I'm the only girl in the village who doesn't despise you, and I'm your sister."

Gobber began counting on his fingers. "Ye can't lift a hammer, ye can't swing an axe…" He held up a bola. "… ye can't even throw one o' these!" Sasslout, who had been fighting the two-header, grabbed the bola and flung it, nailing a fatter dragon. "Thanks, Gob! Hey, Himinn!"

"Hey, Sass! You'd better get in here soon, your axe is looking dull!"

"Got it!"

Hiccup ignored this interaction, preferring to focus on Gobber. "Alright, fine, but this will throw it for me." He patted a wooden device on a wagon he affectionately called 'The Mangler'. The device promptly went off, shooting a bola over Himinn's head, and bashing another viking into unconsciousness. Gobber glared and began walking towards him, angrily gesturing towards the Mangler. "See, now this right here, is what I'm talkin' about!"

Himinn sighed. "Hiccup, you've really gotta fix that calibration issue!"

Gobber sighed. "Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there, and fight dragons, you need to stop all…" He simply gestured at him. "…this." "But you just pointed to all of me!" Gobber smiled. "Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you." "Ohh…" Hiccup murmured. Gobber smirked. "Ohh, yeah." Hiccup pointed at him. "You, you sir are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much… raw, vikingness contained? There will be consequences!"

His ever-supportive sister strode over from the window. "We'll take our chances." She tossed over her weapons. "Swords. Sharpen. Now."

He lugged the swords over to a sharpening wheel, fantasizing as he did.

 _One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon, is everything around here._

A group of birdlike dragons- two legs, wings, and a long prickly tail were herding a group of sheep.

A Nadder head will at least get Hiccup noticed.

A group of fatter dragons with hummingbird wings were eating the fish-drying racks- the whole things, not just the fish.

Gronckles are tough. One of those'll definitely get him at least a date.

Another dragon, this one two-headed, was spraying thick green gas into a the open door of a house.

Hideous Zippleback? Exotic, exciting, explosive. Two heads get you twice the status.

The dragon's second head, hanging over a hole in the roof, spat out some sparks into the gas, and the dragon flew away, a silhouette against a brilliant explosion.

The blue dragon from before suddenly landed, static electricity rippling off every scale. A beam of voltage escaped its jaws, stunning every viking within range, before a flap of its wings launched it back into the sky.

The Skrill. A powerful dragon that flies through storms, eats the lightning, and vomits it up on us. You don't wanna fight that thing, trust me.

Meanwhile, Jardar was letting out the Hooligan battle cry, swinging a random mace at a snakelike dragon covered in spines.

Whispering Death. These things are fierce, silent killers with rotating razor teeth, spines, and explosive flame rings. Grown men wet their pants at the memory of these things- if they're lucky enough to survive.

Up in a catapult tower, Stoick's small group was still fighting the raiders off. "They've found the sheep!" Stoick nodded. "Concentrate fire over the lower bank!" Two other vikings spun the catapult into position. "FIRE!"

A Nadder quickly discovered what boulders taste like.

Then, another dragon, using its wings as front legs to scale the tower burst through a few wooden planks, until Stoick ran up to it. The gigantic reptile burst into flames. An unimpressed viking chief began hitting it in the face with a hammer.

The Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best vikings- and me- go after those. You see, they have this nasty habit of… setting themselves on fire.

The Nightmare also discovered what stone tasted like, after receiving a double whammy and flying off.

 _But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one's ever seen. We call it the…_

A shrill whistle was heard by the whole village as one viking let out a scream. "NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!"

A shadow, barely seeable shot through the air, a single purple fireball annihilating the catapult tower, Stoick and the others barely escaping.

 _That thing never steals food, never shows itself, and-_

Another blast toppled what was left of the tower, as though the dragon was mocking them.

 **…never misses.**

 _No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm gonna be the first._

You see, you say that, but I'm not really certain you know what you're committing to.

Hiccup ran over to Gobber, who had replaced his prosthetic with on adorned with an axe. "Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there." He ran out the door, stopping only to turn back and say, "Stay. Put. There."

Hiccup smiled innocently.

"You know what I mean. Himinn, make sure he stays in the forge." And with that, he charged into battle, shouting the Hooligan (for that was their tribe) battle cry- the most inappropriate word he knew, screamed at the top of his lungs.

Hiccup looked at Himinn, who smiled mischievously. "I have gone temporarily blind and deaf, and will have no idea if you, say, take the Mangler to a cliff and shoot down a dragon." Hiccup grabbed the Mangler and wheeled it out of the forge, muttering a thank-you into Himinn's ear as he passed. He dashed through the village, happily ignoring everyone that told him to "Get inside!"

He even ran past Stoick, who was throwing a net over three Nadders, wrestling one to the ground as she got her head loose. "Mind yourselves! The devils still have some juice in them!"

Meanwhile, Hiccup had successfully gotten the Mangler to the highest cliff he could get to, and quickly set it up to fire, gazing hopefully into the dark sky. "C'mon, gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at…"

He looked around in the sky as a low, banshee-like moan built up- the Night Fury was coming in for another attack. He carefully aimed, hoping the dragon would appear in the night sky.

One purple fireball later, a building exploded, and that was when the Night Fury made a fatal mistake- it flew in front of the explosion, giving Hiccup a clear view of its silhouette.

He couldn't miss.

The recoil from the Mangler caused him to fall backwards, but it was so worth seeing the beautiful sight of the bola flying beyond his vision, colliding with something, before the pained screech of the dragon rang out for his ears to drink in, the barely visible shape falling towards Raven Point.

Hiccup gaped in astonishment before breaking out in a cheer. "I hit it… YES! I HIT IT! Did anyone see that?!"

A burbling growl was heard behind him, and he turned around just in time to see a Monstrous Nightmare crush his prized weapon, glaring at him through half-lidded eyes.

And thus came the sarcastic remark. "Except for you."

Stoick looked up from his work (turning flat-faced Gronckles into pancake-faced Gronckles) just in time to hear a high-pitched scream. He looked up and noticed Hiccup running away from the Nightmare he had encountered.

"Oh, joy."

He spun at the sound and spotted Himinn fending off a Gronckle. "You were supposed to watch him!"

She stared innocently. "I was watching him at all times. I don't know how he got past me…"

Stoick glared. "Just go save his neck, will ya?"

Himinn grinned. "Keep-Hiccup-away-from-the-dragon. My favourite game. HYAAHHH!" She unsheathed her freshly sharpened swords and took off.

Hiccup, meanwhile, ran behind one of the tall torches, attempting to hide (panic does things to a person), shivering in terror as the Nightmare began curving around the structure…

Only to be punched in the face by its prey's angry sister.

"Stay offa him, lizard!"

The dragon snarled, opened its mouth, and spewed fire, scorching the torch. It fired again, but only coughed up a few orange drops.

Himinn smirked. "You're all out. DIE!" She lashed out, slicing into the Nightmare's hide. The flying reptile roared and took off, unwilling to fight after sustaining an injury.

 _Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know._

The torch crashed to the ground, the flames having weakened the wood too much. The brazier on top fell off and rolled through the village. Captive dragons took flight as their restrainments were scorched. The Nadders Stoick had trapped all flew free, clutching sheep in their talons.

And of course, all eyes turned to Hiccup, Stoick's stern gaze seeming to bore holes in his skull.

"Sorry… dad"

 **…**


	2. Viewing

**…**

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

This remark can from the mark of young Hiccup Haddock, after singlehandedly (LOL we all know it was the Nightmare) causing the dragons raiding their village to escape with a lot of livestock, leaving the vikings with only a captive Whispering Death to show for their efforts (Thanks, Jardar!).

His father, the chief, was not impressed, and grabbed Hiccup by the back of his tunic, dragging him towards their house.

"It's not like the last few times, dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot! It went down just off Raven Point! Let's get a search party out there before it-"

Stoick released him and bellowed, "STOP!"

Himinn pulled out a notebook and a charcoal pen, making a single line. Jardar leaned over. "What's that for?"

"I'm recording the number of axes I need to throw at him later for being mean to Hiccup."

"You are insane."

"But you still love me."

"Touche."

Meanwhile, Hiccup was staring in shock at his father, who lowered his voice. "Just… stop. Every time you step outside, disaster falls. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here, and I have an entire village to feed!"

Hiccup looked around and noted how plump many of the vikings were. "Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"

Jardar, cackling like Dagur the Deranged, was forced to catch Himinn before she fell down from how hard she was laughing. "I-It's funny b-b-because it's so t-true!"

Several vikings rubbed their bellies self-consciously.

Stoick only got madder from this statement. "This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" He sighed. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

Himinn made another tally mark.

Stoick turned towards her. "I'm talkin' to you, too! When someone says, 'watch your brother', they mean, 'watch your brother'!"

She smirked. "I cannot help that I temporarily lost all hearing and vision and allowed my brother to slip past me- oh wait, that was totally on purpose!"

The chief pinched the bridge of his nose. _She's gonna be a thorn in my side until my dying day, and then she'll continue to do so when we get to Valhalla!_

He snapped out of his thoughts in time to hear Hiccup's next protest. "I can't stop myself! I see a dragon, and I just have to kill it! It's who I _am,_ Dad."

Stoick sighed. "Hiccup, you are many things, but a dragon-killer is not one of them." He motioned towards Gobber and Himinn. "Take him back to the house. I've got his mess to clean up."

Two more tally marks.

Himinn rested a sympathetic hand on Hiccup's shoulder, then lead him away with Gobber.

Unfortunately, they walked past the other teenagers.

Tuff smirked. "Quite the performance."

His wonderful cousin Snotlout joined in. "I've never seen someone mess up that badly. That helped!"

Both let out unmanly screams of terror when Jardar's throwing knives knocked their helmets off. He glared at them. "Next time, I'll go for the brains."

Himinn rolled her eyes. "Don't waste your knives stabbing things that don't exist."

"Fair enough."

They walked up the hill to the Haddock residence. Gobber raised an eyebrow. "So, how many axes is Stoick gonna have to dodge this time?"

"Hmm… carry the one… 8."

"New record."

Hiccup sighed despairingly. "I really did hit one. He never listens, and if he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone stepped on the meat in his sandwich."

Jardar immediately put on a Scottish accent. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you've brought me the wrong offspring! I asked for a stereotypical barbarian with six-pack abs and hairy armpits! This here, this can think for itself instead of just accepting everything at face value! Take it back!"

Hiccup blinked. "Not exactly what I was gonna say, but it's better than 'this is a talking fishbone.'"

Gobber shook his head. "Now, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like. It's what's _inside_ that he can't stand!"

Himinn wrote down another tally. "Dad's taking the punishment for that one. Two more axes."

The blacksmith smirked and walked away. "I'll grab those for ya. Oh, and don't forget Stoick wants you and Jardar on the war council today!"

She groaned. "I hate war councils."

Then she and Jardar exchanged devious smirks. "Hiccup, while we aren't home, under no circumstances will you go out to the woods to attempt to find the Night Fury you shot down."

The scrawny boy nodded. "Right. Under no circumstances." He opened the door and entered the house as Himinn and Jardar walked away… and ran out the back door the moment they were gone.

 _Meanwhile, inside the Meade Hall…_

"It's either we finish them, or they finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid off them!"

Stoick, who was obviously the one speaking, rolled out a large map over the table he was standing at. "If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home!"

He drew his sword and plunged it into a section of the map labelled 'Helheim's Gate'. "One more search. Before the ice sets in."

Another viking spoke up. "Those ships never come back!"

"We're vikings! It's an occupational hazard!". Stoick glared at the assembly. "Now, who's with me?"

There was silence.

Stoick sighed. "Alright then. Those who stay will look after Hiccup."

There were immediate shouts of, "To the ships!" and "I'm with you, Stoick!"

"That's better."

The vikings began flowing out of the Meade Hall.

Gobber wiped his lips on his tankard hand, standing up from the bench he'd been sitting on. "Alright. I'll pack my undies."

Jardar had left the hall along with the rest of the vikings. Himinn, however, was still there, sharpening an axe. She threw her hands up in disgust, causing the weapon to fall to the ground next to her. "Ugh! TMI, Gobber! Also, dad, you should really be more concerned about the fact that people would rather die than spend time with Hiccup."

Stoick ignored this. "No, I need you to stay with Himinn and Jardar to train some new recruits."

The other two exchanged glances, and Gobber looked back at his friend. "Yeah, and while we're busy, Hiccup can cover the stall! Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself? What could possibly go wrong?"

Stoick sighed and pinched his nose. "What am I gonna do with him, Gobber?"

Himinn happily piped up. "Stop belittling him in public, teach him how to actually defend himself, stop treating him like he's inferior to _every other person on this island…_ "

The chief glared at her. "I'm serious."

"Weeell… Dragon Training is always an option."

"Himinn, he's not you! He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of it's cage!"

Gobber snorted. "The only question is what weapon Snotlout would use to kill him."

Stoick sighed. "You two know what he's like. From the time he could crawl, he's been… different. He doesn't listen, he has the attention span of a sparrow, I take him fishing and he goes hunting for… for trolls!"

In perfect unison, the other two looked at him incredulously and stated, " **Trolls exist! They steal your socks! But only the left ones. What's with that?** "

"Jinx!" Himinn called out triumphantly. "You owe me a glass of mead!"

"When I was a boy…"

Still in perfect sync, the girl and the blacksmith sighed. " **Oh, here we go.** "

"… my father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it! I thought he was crazy, but I did it. And you know what happened?"

" **You got a headache.** "

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a viking could do! He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas!"

He sat down and exhaled. "Even as a child, I knew what I was, what I had to become. You were that child too, Himinn. Hiccup? Hiccup is not that child.".

Himinn facepalmed. "Dad, Hiccup is fifteen! When I was fifteen, I killed a bloody Monstrous Nightmare in that Dragon Training ring! He's gonna fight dragons, whether you like it or not!".

Gobber nodded. "You can't stop 'im, Stoick. You can only prepare him."

The chief sighed and nodded. "Alright. Maybe it'll do him some good."

Then he noticed the pile of axes beside Himinn and paled. "Odin help me."

His daughter's smile was the grin of a predator that had caught its prey. "You should run now."

Five seconds later, Berk got to enjoy the sight of their chief running away from his daughter, screaming like a little girl while axes flew past his head.

….

While the village was occupied, Hiccup had been quite busy. He'd been searching the forest for his draconic victim, crossing out the areas he'd already searched on a quickly sketched map of the island

There were a lot of X marks.

Frustratedly, he scribbled all over the map before tucking his pen into his notebook, snapping it closed with a sigh. "The gods hate me. Some people loose their knife or their mug, but not me? I manage to loose an entire dragon?!"

He smacked a branch out of his way, only for it to swing back and smack him, with a lot more success. "Ow!"

Then he looked up. The wood had splintered away from the tree it was attached to, as though Thor's wrath had swept over Berk…

…or something large and heavy had fallen out of the sky and smashed into it.

He quickly deduced it was the former, as similar sights of destruction marred the ground in front of him. Hopes rising, he slid down the earth, desperate to see what had caused the destruction.

He gasped and hit the dirt.

He'd found it.

Cautiously he peeked over the dirt, taking in the sight of the ebony-scaled dragon lying next to a boulder, one wing sticking out at an angle that could not have been comfortable. He reached into his fur vest and pulled out a dagger, clutching it like a lifeline, hoping the dragon couldn't hear his terrified gulps for air.

His hopes were confirmed when he spotted bolas restraining the beast's limbs. "Oh wow, I did it. Ohh, I did it! This fixes everything! Yes!". He mounted a foot on the winged lizard. "I have brought down this mighty beast-"

He was cut off when the dragon kicked him off, knocking him against the boulder as it turned one large green eye to glare at him.

He breathed in a few times, glaring determinedly. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon. I'm go-gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a viking. I'm a viking!"

The Night Fury grunted as Hiccup held the dagger over it. He raised the short blade into the air- the blade that would be immortalized as the first to spill the blood of a Night Fury.

And then it closed its eyes, allowing its head to loll to the side.

Hiccup grunted, desperately trying to muster the resolve to kill such a vulnerable creature… and failed, allowing his arms to fall, hands holding the dagger resting on his head. He looked down, actually feeling pity for the creature he'd trapped. "I did this."

He moved to walk away, then turned back, looking first at the Night Fury, then the ropes, then his dagger.

The Night Fury's eye snapped open to the sound of sawing as Hiccup, unbelievably, began cutting through the ropes holding it, snaps echoing through the air.

The dragon sprang the moment the ropes were loose enough, allowing them to fall to the ground, pouncing on Hiccup and pinning him with one large, black paw. The boy gasped for air, looking into large green eyes, wincing and preparing for the fireball to blast his head into ashes.

The dragon spread its wings wide… and _roared_. A loud roar that blew Hiccup's hair back as the pressure on his windpipe lessened.

Apparently content to give him that warning, the dragon sprang off into the forest, far away from the viking boy.

Hiccup turned to walk away, breathing heavily… then crashed to the forest floor in a dead faint.

 **…**

 **Next chapter: Learning on the Job.**


	3. Learning

**The Gronckle says Jaw Strength 82 because the first time I watched the movie, I thought Fishlegs said 82 instead of 8, so I decided 'why not?'**

 **…**

Hiccup had, since his fainting spell, woken up, and was attempting to sneak into the house. Himinn was polishing off the last few pieces of yak chops on her dinner plate, and Stoick was whittling a wooden duck (didn't they have enough of those?), meaning he could easily sneak upstairs while they were-

"Hiccup."

He stopped midclimb. "Dad! Uhh… look, I need to talk to you."

Stoick stood up. "I need to speak with you too, son."

Then at the same time, Hiccup said, "I've decided I don't want to fight dragons." while Stoick said, "I think it's time you learn to fight dragons." Then both looked at each other, and said "What?"

Stoick gestured to his son. "You go first."

Hiccup shook his head. "You go first."

Stoick nodded. "Alright. You get your wish. Dragon Training. You start in the morning."

Hiccup began panicking. "Ohh, I should have gone first. Because, you know, we have a surplus of dragon fighting vikings, but do we have enough bread-making vikings? Or small home repair vikings, or-"

He was cut off by Stoick dumping a heavy axe into his hands. "You'll need this."

Gasping under the weight, the youngest Haddock gasped out, "I don't want to fight dragons."

Himinn, who had remained silent thus far, burst into laughter. "BWAHAHA! PRICELESS! Hiccup, that's the funniest thing I've heard… since…" She looked at him. "Holy Frigg, you're serious."

Hiccup groaned. "Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons."

Stock laughed. "But you will kill dragons!"

Himinn facepalmed. "Dad, I'm fairly sure that he won't."

Stoick shot her a glare. "It's Hiccup's time," he said sternly, ignoring Hiccup's demand if he could even hear him. He turned back to his son.

"This is serious, son! When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you."

This was met with a snicker. "Dad, YOU couldn't possibly lift the entire village. How do you expect Hiccup to?"

He continued, ignoring the comment. "You walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us."

"NOOOOOO! NOT HIS ABILITY TO THINK RATIONALLY! IT'S ALL HE HAS!"

"No more of… this."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You just gestured to all of me."

Stoick looked him straight in the eyes. "Deal?"

Himinn called over, "From where I'm sitting, this conversation is looking very one-sided!"

Hiccup winced as his father's gaze bored into him. "Deal."

The chief smiled and slung a duffel bag over his shoulder. "Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."

Hiccup sighed. "And I'll be here.". He waited until Stoick was out the door before finishing. "…maybe."

Himinn looked at him. "Alright, what happened? You were so gung-ho about killing dragons."

He sighed again and explained what had happened in the forest.

When he had finished, Himinn looked remarkably astonished, before closing her mouth. "Okay. I can't get you out of Dragon Training, but I can help with something else."

"And that would be?"

"Tomorrow, you're going to go into the woods to find that Night Fury. And I'm coming along for the ride."

...

After a restless sleep, Hiccup was absolutely unprepared for Dragon Training. The only thing that was even slightly reassuring was Himinn's presence, as she and the other older teens had been giving him some advice- even Sasslout, who preferred the current heir to the Cheiftainship than the one the tribe would recieve if Hiccup died- her brother, who was undeniably a cowardly bragging moron.

Helen: He'll probably use the Gronckle or the Terrible Terror first, so stay away from the mouth. If he uses the Nadder, stay away period.

Sasslout: If you can, lure it towards Astrid. She's the best fighter in that arena.

Scruffnut: Trick Ruff and Tuff into fighting each other. Instant distraction, just add Thorstons.

Jardar: Drop your weapon if you get targeted. It'll weigh you down and make it harder to escape.

Himinn: Keep in mind Jardar has his knives ready if it looks like anyone's in danger. We won't let anyone die.

And then they'd left, leaving Hiccup at the entrance while they walked up to the chain dome above the arena (after a pat on the back and a whisper of, "Give 'em Hel!"

Gobber opened the gate with a wide grin. "Welcome to Dragon Training!"

Astrid was the first one to step into the arena. "No turning back.

The rest of the teens entered, gazing around in awe, until Tuffnut broke the silence. "I hope I get some serious burns!"

Ruffnut nodded in agreement. "I'm hoping for some mauling, like, on my shoulder or lower back."

At the dome, spectating, Scruffnut facepalmed and said, "Ruff and Tuff, everybody."

Astrid grinned. "No kidding. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

The rest of the older teens facepalmed.

"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it!"

Himinn chuckled. "Da-da-dah, he's dead."

Tuffnut groaned. "Oh, great. Who let him in?"

A throwing knife struck his helmet. "Gobber did, genius! Now shaddup!"

"Thank you, Jardar! Alright, let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village!"

Hiccup inhaled sharply when Gobber twisted his hook in front of the scrawny boy's chest until Himinn chucked a rock at the blacksmith's head. "Astrid's a girl, you moron!"

Gobber rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right, sorry."

Snotlout snickered. "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him, or...?"

Ruffnut giggled and Tuffnut raised his hand and asked, "Can I get transferred to the class with the cool vikings?"

Another knife hit his helmet with a more noticeable impact. "SHUTITYOUORRIBLELITTLEVIKINGSANDLISTENTOGOBBER!"

Himinn twirled her swords, smiling maliciously. "Or do I need to come down there?"

Snot gulped. "No, you stay there!"

The teens moved to line up as Gobber placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Don't worry. You're small, you're weak. That'll make you less of a target! The dragons'll go after the more viking-like teens instead."

Strangely, this was actually encouraging.

Hiccup shouldered his axe as Gobber began talking again. "Behind these doors are just a few of the species that you will learn to fight!"

"Deadly Nadder!"

Fishlegs spoke quietly with a determined smirk. "Speed 8, Armor 16!"

"The Hideous Zippleback!"

"Stealth 11, times two!"

"The Monstrous Nightmare!"

"Firepower 15!"

"The Whispering Death!"

"Shot limit, unknown!"

"The Terrible Terror!"

"Attack 8, Venom 12!"

Gobber finally lost his temper. "CAN YOU STOP THAT!"

He calmed down. "And... the Gronckle!"

Fishlegs, unable to contain himself, whispered, "Jaw Strength, 82..."

Snotlout began panicking when he saw Gobber reaching towards the lever that would open the Gronckle's door. "Wait! Aren't you going to teach us first?!"

Himinn was the one who answered, grinning like a madwoman. "He believes in learning on the job. HIT IT, GOBBER!"

The cage opened and the dragon burst out, growling as her wings beat furiously. "Today is about survival!"

Himinn giggled. "I'll give you guys the short version: Get blasted, get out!".

The Gronckle smacked into a wall as the teens dodged her tackle, then munched up a pile of rocks Gobber had probably put there. The blacksmith in question began actually teaching. "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?!"

"A doctor?"

"Plus 5 speed?"

…

Himinn facepalmed. "What is this, an RPG?"

"Shh, Himinn, no breaking the fourth wall."

…

Astrid had the right answer. "A shield!"

"Yes! Shields! Go!"

The teens took off, dashing through the arena and scooping shields off the ground as Gobber began a short lecture. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

He hobbled over to Hiccup, who was- surprise, surprise- having trouble lifting his shield while holding his axe, scooping it into the boy's arms and sending him into the fray.

Ruff and Tuff were the only ones who hadn't grabbed shields. Unfortunately, there was only one with skulls on it. The twins both grabbed it and started fighting for it.

Tuff: "Get your hands off my shield!"

Ruff: "There are like a million shields!"

Tuff: "Take that one. It has a flower on it, girls like flowers."

That comment earned him a shield bash over the head, Ruffnut smiling innocently. "Oops. Now this one has blood on it."

This evidently made it more of a prize as Tuff grabbed it and the fighting started again... until the Gronckle, as annoyed as the teacher, students, and spectators, blasted the shield into oblivion, Ruff and Tuff spinning comically before dropping their spears and falling to the ground. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, yer out!"

"What?"

"What?"

…

Scruffnut facepalmed again. "This is what I live with. Anyone want to trade?"

…

Gobber dropped back into lecture mode. "Those shields are good for another thing! Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"

The trainees began bashing their weapons on their shields. From the Gronckle's perspective, vibrations rippled around each teen, making it impossible to know where they actually were.

Jardar joined in the lecture. "Each dragon has a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronckle have?"

Snotlout called out, "Five?"

Fishlegs held up his shield arm. "No, six!"

"Correct, Fishlegs! One for each of you!"

Completely oblivious to the Gronckle aiming her maw at him Fishlegs held up his shield arm again. "I really don't-" The Gronckle blasted his shield off his arm. "Ahhh!"

"Fishlegs, out!"

Screaming in terror, Fishlegs dropped his hammer and ran for it, exposing Hiccup, cowering behind a wooden shelter that was there for some reason, to Gobber's view. "Hiccup, get in there!"

Hiccup began moving out of his shelter before another lava blast blew up the wall beside his head, forcing him to retreat again.

The Gronckle spun midair, searching for more targets, and spotted Astrid just as Snotlout walked up behind her and began flirting. "So, I just moved into my parent's basement. You should come by some time and work out! You look like you work out!"

As Astrid somersaulted away, Snotlout stupidly didn't notice the fireball now heading towards him until his shield exploded. "Snotlout! Yer done!"

...

Up in the stands, Himinn looked at Sasslout with exasperation. "Snotlout?"

Sasslout sighed and nodded. "Snotlout."

Helen groaned. "Oi."

Scruffnut facepalmed for the third time. "Oi."

Jardar finished. "Oi."

...

Astrid ended her somersault next to Hiccup. The scrawny boy looked sheepishly at her. "So, I guess it's just you and me, huh?"

Astrid looked at the Gronckle and her eyes widened. "Nope, just you." She took off, allowing the Gronckle's blast to knock Hiccup's shield off his arm. "One shot left!"

Hiccup, for whatever reason decided to pursue his rolling shield, ending up trying to avoid the Gronckle and getting pinned at the wall. Himinn gasped. "HICCUP!"

The Gronckle opened her mouth to release her final shot as Hiccup braced himself for a firey demise.

The demise didn't come. Himinn jumped down into the ring and snagged Disembowler on one of the Gronckle's fangs, dragging her head to the side and redirecting the blast before Gobber grabbed onto the Gronckle and wrangled her back into her cage. "Ah, go back ta bed, ya overgrown sausage!"

Gobber glared at the other teens as they clustered together. "Remember. A dragon will always, _always..._ "

He bent down to stare Hiccup in the eye. "...go for the kill."

He hauled the boy to his feet and hobbled off. Hiccup stared at the still smouldering scorch mark on the wall. The only thing on his mind was one specific question.

 _Then why didn't you?_

 **...**

 **Next chapter: Himinn Goes Bananas.**


	4. Fighting

**...**

"So why didn't you?".

This question came from Hiccup, voicing his thought from the earlier Dragon Training class. Himinn carefully lifted a stone from the bola he'd released the Night Fury from. She dropped it with a sigh. "Well, we can't use these. You said it flew that way?"

Hiccup nodded and the siblings started walking, picking their way through the brush, until Hiccup noticed an opening in the ground. They entered and carefully ducked under a tree root, and came out of the rock into a cove.

It was a beautiful place. A tall tree stood against one of the stone walls and sunlight shone on a lake in the middle. Grass covered the ground. Himinn actually took a breath of awe. "Okay, I've found my honeymoon spot. Now I just have to convince Jardar..."

Hiccup chuckled and studied the cove before sighing. "No Night Fury. Well, this little trek was pointless."

Himinn frowned. "Maybe not." She crouched and picked up something small and dark. "Doesn't this look like a scale?"

Hiccup looked at it and traced the edge with his finger. It did, admittedly, look a bit like a dragon scale...

His train of thought halted when, with a roar, the Night Fury sprang in front of them. The Haddocks gasped and fell backwards, picking themselves up and moving to observe the Night Fury- well, Hiccup moved to observe it. Himinn just drew Disembowler and held it at the right angle to slice open a flying dragon's belly.

The dragon scrabbled furiously at the stone just above them, apparently trying to get a grip, until he slid off, springing away from the wall and erratically flapping across the lake to the other side of the cove.

Hiccup slid down to a lower rock, gasping, and watched as the dragon flapped towards another wall, falling short with a moan and crashing back to the ground. Hiccup fingered his vest and pulled out his sketchbook, quickly scribbling a surprisingly accurate picture of the dragon.

Himinn slid down behind him. "That's weird. Why doesn't he just fly away?"

The dragon growled in frustration and blasted the ground with a firebolt, lashing his tail and exposing the single tailfin. Hiccup looked at his drawing again and wiped off the left tailfin as the Night Fury sprang for another wall, falling short in midair again and crashing to the ground.

Then the dragon plunged his head into the lake. Himinn sighed. "Maybe he's fishing?"

Hiccup shrugged and loosened his death grip on his charcoal pen.

It was a mistake. The pen fell to the ground and the dragon immediately twitched his head towards it... before looking up at them. They stayed frozen like that, a boy crouching and staring, a girl loosely gripping a sword, and a dragon, looking at them, not doing a single thing to suggest a threat.

Himinn tapped her brother's shoulder and they carefully inched out of the cove, not once taking their eyes away from the dragon.

Neither of them heard the crackle of electricity as dark blue scales moved in a tree on the opposite side of the cove.

...

A storm had broken out while the siblings fled the forest and both were completely drenched. They entered in time to hear Gobber say, "And where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?"

"I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. Threw off my reverse tumble."

Ruffnut snorted at that. "Yeah, we noticed."

Jardar spoke up. "You also left Hiccup to take a lava blast instead of trying to get him out of the way."

The Haddocks walked in and saw Astrid raise an eyebrow. "I did the same thing to Snotlout. Wasn't that an mistake?"

Five voices chorused, " **No, that was a good move. You should do it again. Constantly.** "

Hiccup scooped up a plate of chicken and moved to sit by himself at his usual table, which didn't stop Gobber from asking, "And where did Hiccup go wrong?"

Ruff: "Uh, he showed up!"

Himinn wordlessly took out the book in which she marked how many axes she'd throw at Stoick for something, wrote 'Ruffnut' on a blank page, and added a tally mark.

Tuff: "He didn't get eaten!"

A tally mark beside Tuff's name.

Astrid snorted snobbishly. "He's never where he should be.".

Himinn immediately grabbed Astrid's arm, smiling sweetly. "Can I speak to you for a second?"

She dragged the young viking to the other side of the Great Hall, and began screaming in rage. " **NEVER WHERE HE SHOULD BE?! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE THAT?! I HAVE MORE BATTLE EXPERIENCE IN MY LITTLE TOE THAN YOU DO IN YOUR ENTIRE BODY! YOU! DO! NOT! GET! TO! DECIDE! WHERE! YOUR! COMRADES! SHOULD! BE! IN! BATTLE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!** "

Astrid mutely nodded and Himinn released her. " **GOOD!** "

Instead of sitting back down, Astrid walked towards the door, trembling... and let out a delayed scream of terror and ran out the door.

Himinn smiled and sat down with the others. "Anyone else want to say something? Snotlout?"

The braggart whimpered. "No ma'am."

Gobber simply pulled out a book. "Alright, look at this! You need to live and breathe this stuff! The Dragon Manual! Everything we know about every dragon we know of!"

Thunder boomed. "No attacks tonight. Study up."

The twins gasped in horror. "Read? While we're still alive?"

Snotlout pounded his fist on the table. "Why read words about stuff when you can just kill what the words tell you stuff about?".

Himinn smiled again. "Interesting idea, Snotlout. You see, I once read a book about the human body. Perhaps you're suggesting I should simply, say, kill you instead of read about how your body works?"

Snotlout turned pale when Himinn drew her blades, the twins quickly following. "Hmm, well, maybe I'm... RUNNING FOR MY LIFE! THOR SAVE ME!"

The three previously mentioned screamed and ran out of the hall. Fishlegs snickered.

Himinn sheathed her blades. "Legs, can Hic have the book tonight? I know you've read it seven times by now."

He nodded. "A price worth paying for good entertainment." He handed Hiccup the book and began walking towards the doors, the rest of the older teens except Jardar dispersing afterwards. Fishlegs could still be heard telling Helen, "The only thing that could have made that better is if we had some sort of device to make a record of it!" before the door closed.

Himinn smiled and sat next to her brother, Jardar flopping down on the other side. "So, studying?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Why not?"

He opened the manual. "Dragon Classifications. Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class..."

He turned to a random page. "Thunderdrum. Tidal Class. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill and man at close range. Extremely Dangerous, Kill On Sight."

Himinn read the next page. "Timberjack. Sharp Class. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees. Extremely Dangerous, Kill On Sight."

Hiccup took over again. "Scauldron. Tidal Class. Sprays boiling hot water at its victims. Extremely Dangerous, Kill On Sight."

"Changewing. Mystery Class. Even newly hatched dragonets spray acid. Kill On Sight."

Himinn boredly skimmed the next few pages, reciting what they contained. "Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Whispering Death. Bonknapper."

Then, from memory, she stated their disturbing methods of killing humans. "Bites its victims, explodes its victims, electrocutes its victims, minces its victims, turns its victims inside out. Extremely Dangerous, Kill On Sight, yadda yadda yadda."

Then she found what she was looking for. "Here."

Hiccup read the mostly blank page. "Night Fury. Strike Class. Speed, unknown. Size, unknown. The unholy offspring of Lightning and Death themselves. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you."

Hiccup pulled out his sketchbook and flipped to the page with the Night Fury. Jardar gasped. "Hiccup, how did you see a Night Fury?"

They told him the story.

When they finished, he nodded. "And you'll want to see it again, I expect. I can't come with you, though."

Himinn blinked. "Why not?"

"Hiccup going into the woods will hardly be noticed. Both of you going into the woods won't seem out of the ordinary. I never go into the woods, so it'll be pretty suspicious if I go whenever you guys do."

Himinn sighed. "Alright. You'll keep it secret?"

Jardar winked. "My lips are sealed."

...

In the nest of the dragons, a form stirred in the magma, and a small head poked out for air.

Well, smaller than the molten rock's other inhabitant. A baby Red Death could hardly be the same size as the Queen, after all.

She looked around for a moment, and a Monstrous Nightmare flapped down to her. " _Greetings, Princess. Could you inform the Queen that a_ _raiding party has returned with food?_ "

She nodded and submerged again, swimming through the liquid to the sleeping form of her mother. " _Mother! A party of raiders has returned!_ "

The Queen's tremendous bulk immediately moved towards the top of the magma and she opened her mouth. Dragons swarmed into the nest and began dropping livestock and fish stolen from viking tribes, all offerings to their ruler.

The Princess popped back out of the lava and a trio of Zipplebacks flapped over to her, holding sheep. The leader gave her a draconic smile. " _We heard you were fond of these._ "

She smiled in return. " _Thank you. I will remember your kindness._ "

The leader glared up at the larger form of her mother, oblivious to everything except what she was eating. " _I_ _hope you become Queen soon. You are much kinder than her._ "

The Princess nodded. " _Yes, she's a tyrant._ " A roar rang about the cavern as a Nadder dropped a small hen into the tremendous mouth: " ** _That is not enough!_** "

The Zipplebacks fled as the Queen rose from the magma, snapping her jaws around the unfortunate Nadder and swallowing him whole before resubmerging herself.

The younger Red Death let out a sigh and sank back into the magma before opening a mental channel. The Queen controlled the dragons of the nest, but a few weeks after the Princess had hatched, the Queen had her offspring practice mind-control on a Skrill. The Princess had ended up accidentally establishing dominance over the Skrill, thus placing the dragon under her control instead of her mother's. The Princess had immediately reduced her control of the Skrill to merely being able to telepathically communicate, and the freed lightning dragon remained a friend of the Princess since then.

He'd been sent on an important mission, though. He was keeping watch over the Night Fury after the Queen had complained about loosing control of him during a raid, and he had been instructed to give the Princess regular updates.

 _Are you there?_

 _I'm here, Princess. You want an update, right?_

 _Yes. How is the Night Fury?_

 _He's been liberated as we thought, thank goodness. He got shot down by a juvenile male during the raid on this island._

 _Is he alright?_

 _Yes. The juvenile came to kill him, but ended up releasing him instead for some reason. The Night Fury's lost a tailfin._

 _That isn't good. He's one of the few dragons that might be able to kill my mother._

 _Oh, and there's another thing._

 _What?_

 _The male attempted to find the Night Fury again. He brought an older female, possibly his sister. He located the cove where the Night Fury is. He might end up coming back at some point._

 _You think the stories are true? About a dragon and a human together uniting our species?_

 _It's possible. There was definitely something happening when he looked at the human. I myself admit I feel a strange attraction to the female- don't laugh, I'm not falling in love!_

 _Sorry. Alright, if he does come back and something drastic happens, inform me immediately._

 _You got it. Oh, and Princess?_

 _Yes?_

 _Take care._

 _I will. Good luck._

The Princess dropped out of the communication and hope filled her.

If the stories were true, then there would be peace betweens humans and dragons.

And for that to happen, the Queen would need to die.

She smiled, because soon the dragons might finally be free of the eternal nightmare that was her horrible mother.

 **...**

 **This is actually one of my longer chapters.**

 **I'm introducing a new character, the Princess. As I've said, she's a younger Red Death and surprisingly mature for her age. She's also in direct control of a Skrill, which is sparing him from the Red Death's control. I'll explain how that works if I get asked about it in a review, hint hint.**

 **I've also decided to explore Himinn's sisterly affection a bit more in this chapter. Sure she teases Hiccup on occasion, but when someone says something that really offends her AND insults Hiccup, she goes completely ballistic. I almost pity Astrid a little, but her attitude is just too weird in the first movie.**

 **"You dare fight this pathetically? Why don't you just join the dragon's side instead, you'll be more helpful there!".**

 **And when Hiccup starts winning:**

 **"How DARE you take my advice and start winning! Thor help me, you will stop being the good fighter I complained you weren't or your end will be bloody and violent!".**

 **Seriously, Astrid, make up your mind.**

 **Next chapter: Forbidden Friendships.**


	5. Searching

**Ugh, sorry this took so long, guys. I've been busy with other projects... but I'm back now, so let's get on with it!**

It was another day, and another Dragon Training. Gobber had, unfortunately for the teens, placed Himinn in charge.

More unfortunately, Hiccup had been rather distracted during the exercise. The Nadder they were fighting was all too happy to take advantage of it.

A beam of fire blasted off the blade of Hiccup's axe. "Whoa!"

His sister shook her head. "C'mon, Hic! You're not even trying!"

Hiccup yelped as the Nadder sprang down from the wall and began chasing him, springing over the walls of the maze that had been set up overnight, until loosing interest and targeting Fishlegs. Himinn's voice filled the ring. "Today is about attack! Nadders are quick, and light on their feet! Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"

Fishlegs let out a scream as he held up his shield to block a volley of spines from the Nadder's tail. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!"

Himinn cackled in amusement. "There's something wrong with you if you've only just started to question my methods!"

The Nadder lost interest in Fishlegs and moved on to the twins. "Ruff, Tuff, listen up! Hide in her blind spot! Every dragon's got one! Find it, hide in it, and start stabbing and hacking!"

The twins obeyed, dashing up in front of the Nadder, Tuff standing in front of its nose, Ruff standing directly behind him.

Predictably, it fell apart in a matter of moments. Ruffnut groaned in complaint even as she and her twin leaned and swayed to stay away from the dragon's eyesight. "Ugh! Do you ever bathe?"

"If you don't like it, get your own blind spot!"

Ruff slammed the shaft of her spear into Tuff's rib. "How 'bout I give you one?!"

The Nadder, disturbed by the fact there was noise were she couldn't see, fired. The twins barely got out of the way.

Himinn snickered gleefully. "Blind spot yes. Deaf spot, not so much."

In the meantime, Astrid, Snotlout, and Hiccup had somehow ended up grouping together. The Nadder moved towards them, sniffing. At a gesture from Astrid, she and Snotlout shield-rolled (no idea what it's actually called, so I'm just going with that) over to another passage in the maze, managing to stay in the dragon's blind spot. When Hiccup attempted, however...

As the boy didn't possess enough strength to actually lift the shield, he stopped in the middle of his attempted roll, right in the Nadder's line of sight. "Oh, c'mon!"

With a screech, the dragon attacked furiously, blasting flames and spines, and flinging Hiccup away. Snotlout stepped up as Astrid tried to axe the dragon. "Don't worry, babe! I've got this!"

His mace bounced off the wall harmlessly when he threw it, and the Nadder burst into draconic laughter. Astrid shot him a glare. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid!"

Himinn called down, "It's cloudy, you moron!"

Astrid, apparently in agreement, ripped Snotlout's shield off his arm and threw it, smacking the Nadder right in the face. Snotlout immediately smirked. "Yeah! How'd you like that, you ugly lizard!"

Himinn facepalmed. _Well, he's doomed._

The Nadder went absolutely berserk. Flames and spines and snapping fangs and furiously smashing into the walls of the maze, she was going to do anything, ANYTHING  it took to shred that disrespectful little pink worm into confetti!

Snotlout screamed as the walls of the maze began falling down, the teens flung all over the place, even Astrid unable to hold back the force of nature that was an insulted Deadly Nadder. Unfortunately, this resulted in the girl in question being flung directly onto Hiccup, with her axe embedded in his shield.

Furiously, driven even madder after Ruff and Tuff commented on 'love on the battlefield', she stomped on Hiccup's face, tugging at her axe to get it out of his shield, before giving up and just pulling so hard that the leather straps binding the wooden disk to Hiccup's arm snapped. Whirling around, she smashed the shield into the Nadder's face, completely shattering it and disorienting the dragon.

Himinn at once sprang down into the ring and grabbed the Nadder by the horn on her snout, pulling her back into her cage and shutting the door.

Astrid, meanwhile, shot Hiccup a furious glare for some reason, apparently angered that her axe had gotten stuck in his shield instead of getting mad at Snotlout for ticking the dragon off in the first place. She snarled out, "Is this some kind of a joke to you?! Our parent's war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on!"

Himinn, smiling sweetly, grabbed Astrid by the wrist. "Alright, kids, clear out! Not you, Astrid, I want a word with you."

...

Ten minutes later, the teens were still outside- Hiccup waiting patiently for his sister, the other four waiting anxiously for Astrid. When they exited, Hiccup was the only teen not astonished.

Astrid was pale, her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were dull. She shivered as though she had been plunged into the freezing cold ocean. She said nothing, simply walking out of the arena, then fainting dead away once she was out. Himinn smiled brightly. "Come, brother. We're going on a walk."

Hiccup smirked as they walked away. "What did you say to her?"

"I'm not exactly sure."

"That tends to happen when you have apoplectic fits of rage."

"Fair point."

...

They ended up wandering back to the cove. Hiccup had a shield on one arm, and a fish in the other. Himinn was wielding her blades.

The shield, naturally, got stuck in the entrance. It wouldn't move no matter how much the siblings shoved at it, so Hiccup ducked under it and Himinn vaulted over it. Both began looking around for the Night Fury, until they found it.

A long, gleaming, jet-black dragon glared at them from on top of a rock, dropping to the ground and glaring at them with clear hostility, prowling closer. Hiccup, rather fearfully, held up the fish in offering.

The dragon moved closer as though to accept it, then backed away and growled furiously at Hiccup's belt. The boy perplexedly moved his vest aside and revealed his belt knife. The Night Fury snarled again.

Carefully, Hiccup unsheathed the blade and dropped it on the ground. When the dragon still growled, he attempted to kick it away, only for Himinn to come in, grab it, and hurl it into the pond.

The Night Fury turned to glare at her, but she glared right back. "I'm not tossing my swords in a pool."

The dragon glared harder, but gave up and sat back, eyes widening, looking completely innocent.

Himinn walked over to the other side of the cove, leaning casually against a rock. Hiccup panicked at once. "W-wait! Aren't you gonna help me with this?!"

She yawned and waved. "I'll step in if you need help."

Well that was reassuring. Hiccup held out the fish again, and the dragon cautiously stepped forwards, opening his mouth to reveal...

"Huh. Toothless? I could've sworn you had-"

Teeth erupted from the Night Fury's mouth and in a quick movement, he snatched up the fish and gulped it down, leaving a stunned Hiccup staring. "...teeth."

The dragon curiously moved forwards, sniffing at Hiccup and driving him back against a rock. "Wait, no! I-I don't have any more!"

 _With Himinn..._

The girl in question facepalmed. "Genius, Hiccup. Admit to the hungry dragon that you have no more food."

She was completely unaware of the shape watching her with curiousity. The midnight blue Skrill blinked a few times, then thought, _You there, Princess?_

The response was immediate. _Yes, I'm here. What's happening?_

 _The boy is interacting with the Night Fury. The girl is watching him. She seems indifferent to the fact he's attempting to befriend one of the most powerful dragons in existence._

 _Perhaps she just has faith in her brother._

 _Probably. I'm going to go introduce myself._

 _Are you sure?_

 _There's something about her. I don't think she'll harm me._

 _...alright. Good luck._

 _See you._

The connection faded, and the Skrill carefully climbed down into the cove, carefully moving just slightly into Himinn's peripheral vision. She noticed and gave a small wave. "Yo."

" _Yo._ "

The girl couldn't understand him of course, but she seemed to understand. "So... you a friend of his?"

She gestured to the Night Fury- he'd never gotten the other dragon's name. And they weren't exactly friends, but... well, he stayed out of the Night Fury's way, and the Night Fury stayed out of his. The relationship worked.

The girl nodded again, before saying, "Say, what's your name anyways?"

Now he shot her a derisive look. She got the message. "Right, I can't understand you. Well, I guess I'm going to have to guess. Sparky?"

A head shake.

"Zap?"

Another head shake.

"Death-from-above?"

A slap with his wing.

"Ow! Wait... is it Lightning?"

Another head shake.

"Ugh. Can I just call you Bolt?"

He nodded.

"Cool."

 _Back with Hiccup..._

The Night Fury narrowed his eyes, before apparently believing Hiccup and making a few gagging noises... and dropping the back half of the fish onto Hiccup's lap.

Hiccup immediately knew Himinn was incapacitated, if the screams of laughter from where she was standing were any indication.

He looked down at the fish, then back at the dragon with a hopeful expression.

The Night Fury licked his chops imploringly.

Hiccup sighed and lifted the slobbery fish to his mouth. "MMM!"

The Night Fury stared, ignoring Himinn's growing cackles.

"MMM-HMM!"

The Night Fury made a swallowing motion.

Hiccup, now completely dismayed, swallowed the flesh, and the Night Fury spit still on the scales. "Uhhh... bleh!"

He vaguely heard the still laughing Himinn say, "Blackmail material for life! Maybe even in Valhalla!"

The Night Fury looked at him again, as though asking if he'd enjoyed it. Hiccup reluctantly smiled as brightly as he could under the circumstances.

And then he blinked, completely astonished, as the dragon slowly performed a toothless imitation of his smile. Hiccup slowly stood, and reached out to touch the Night Fury... who bared his teeth, snarled, and clumsily took off, flapping towards the other edge of the cove.

Hiccup slowly retracted his hand. _Well, it's a start._

...

The Princess, looking through Bolt's eyes, had seen the whole thing (she rather liked the name the human had given her friend), especially the bit where Himinn had collapsed like her bones had been magically removed, laughing like a maniac, and had come to a conclusion:

 _That girl is either insane or... no, she's insane._

 **...**

 **Yeah, sorry I couldn't do the bonding scene, but I'm on a time crunch, and I'm honestly just glad I managed to get this chapter out. On the bright side, more of the Princess, the Skrill gets a name, and Himinn once again proves her peculiarity. Please feel free to ask any and all questions you may have. And remember, stay tuned!**

 **Hiccup: Oh good, I can get the last word in-**

 ***pushes random button. Hiccup falls into a pit full of salt water and sharks* Well, until next time!**

 **Next chapter: Himinn the Tattletale.**


	6. An Explanation

**Heh... I guess I owe you guys this, huh?**

 **I'm really sorry it's taken this long to get anything out. I just really haven't felt motivated to write this lately.**

 **But...**

 **I've read it over, and I've decided that what I've got so far could be better, so I'm rewriting all of the chapters currently up. From there, I'll do the best that I can to have the next actual chapter out on Monday... and another on Tuesday, because I want to make up for lost time.**

 **Thanks for sticking with this, people. Until next time, stay tuned.**


	7. Bonding

**I'm finally back, people! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter. The next one will definitely be up soon, since I'm motivated to get more of this done. And I also want to expand Himinn's character a little more.**

 **Hiccup: I still want to know where she got those pictures...**

 **Hey, didn't I dump you into a tank of sharks?!**

 **Hiccup: I'm still alive. Plot convenience plus main character syndrome.**

 **...well, it's better than Ash Ketchum syndrome. Regardless... Dazzling? Magnificent? Exquisite? If you would?**

 **Hiccup: Who are- oh. Never mind. TOOTHLESS!**

Hiccup was still looking at the Night Fury, who had scorched a patch of ground and was curling up on it, briefly looking up to watch a bird flapping away from its nest.

He looked back down and spotted Hiccup sitting on the ground, offering a friendly wave.

The dragon huffed, shifted his body, and curled his tail in front of his face. Hiccup scooted closer, reaching out curiously to touch the fin.

The tail can up, revealing the dragon glaring, and Hiccup shot to his feet, spun around, and sheepishly trundled away.

Himinn snickered. "Rejected!"

Hiccup noticed the Skrill looking over to her and heard her say, "You wanna see something neat?"

He walked over, and immediately noticed the pieces of paper in her hands. _Wait a minute, are these..._

"...and here's one of him barfing on Dad's head. I don't know why he doesn't like me showing these to people, they're quite funny. I'll have to thank Bucket and Mulch for them later..."

Hiccup, realizing that his sister was showing his baby pictures to a dragon (who looked very amused), let out a scandalized cry of, "Himinn!"

…

The Princess, observing the baby pictures from Bolt's eyes (and wondering why the human girl found them so amusing), received a sudden signal from a dragon in the field. She sprang on it at once. _Oreo! What's going on?!_

The Gronckle responded immediately. _I was patrolling the area with Rattlesnake and Magnificent, and we saw Vikings approaching the fog! We can't defeat them all with a three dragon squad!_

 _Understood. I'll send reinforcements at once,_

Ignoring the sinking feeling that meant she would have to get her mother's attention, she got the older Red Death's attention. _Oreo, Rattlesnake, and Magnificent have encountered Vikings! They need support!_

Her mother rose. **_And why should we send any?_**

 _Because if you do, you'll still have three dragons that can bring you food._

The queen considered this. **Basilisk. Lazuli. Blast and Blitz. Go aid your comrades. Take as many dragons as you require.**

A blue Gronckle, a purple Whispering Death, and a red Zippleback all flapped into the air, letting out roars. A group of Monstrous Nightmares flew up and joined them, followed by a pair of Deadly Nadders, another Gronckle, and several more Zipplebacks.

…

The sky was beginning to darken as the sun set, and the Night Fury was now hanging in a tree by his tail, wings covering his face. He moved one aside, looking curiously at the children and Skrill on the ground.

Hiccup was sketching something, Himinn looking eagerly over his shoulder, and Bolt looking curiously over hers.

And then another guest joined their little party, the Night Fury peering over Hiccup's other shoulder, watching mesmerized as the stick the boy held drew out patterns on the ground... patterns that looked almost like...

The dragon's eyes widened. On the ground, unmistakably, was an image of him. Himinn laughed. "Nice, bro! Ooh, do you take commissions?"

Hiccup simply smiled. "Well, you're gonna have to pose for me-"

He was interrupted by the Night Fury, who had just walked over with an entire _sapling_ in his mouth, scraping the end of it over the ground, tracing lines in the sand. Himinn motioned quietly to Bolt, who slowly moved away from Hiccup's rock, the girl following a moment later. "Let's head over there, big guy. This seems like a moment for just them."

Hiccup, meanwhile, was completely transfixed by the Night Fury's scribbling, watching in uncomprehending awe, until the dragon spat down his gigantic pencil, grunting in satisfaction at the tremendous scribble covering the ground. And it was a good thing Hiccup didn't understand Dragonese, because the Night Fury had just said, " **There! Looks just like him!** "

…

Himinn stared at Bolt as he collapsed with laughter, a small smile creeping over her face. "Looks like we have a few things in common, huh?"

…

Hiccup blinked at the incomprehensible scribbles. _Maybe it looks like something from outside?_ He began walking out, and stepped on one of the lines. The Night Fury let out a snarl.

Hiccup's boot was back up in an instant. Then, cautiously, he laid it on the line again, provoking another snarl as the dragon slitted his eyes. He lifted it again, and it was instantly pacified. _Huh..._

He took a step outside the line, and the dragon growled in what sounded like approval. _Okay then!_

Hiccup began what felt like a rather bizarre dance, weaving his way around the lines, twisting until he reached the end of the doodle.

He examined it. _Still doesn't look like anything._

Then a hot breath warmed the back of his neck. _Nuts._

He turned around, and the Night Fury was _right there._ Hiccup stared, completely absorbed in its wide green gaze. _Odin's beard. I must be the first Viking to get this close to a dragon!_

He reached out to the black, scaly face, but the dragon retreated with a growl. Hiccup drew his hand back, briefly frowning at it. _Right... we're enemies. I can't just... hold out my hand and expect instance acceptance._

 _We have to meet halfway._

Hiccup slowly turned his head aside, not looking at the dragon, as he held out his arm as far as he could. The dragon simply stared at it. **_He's not doing anything... maybe he... no, he's a Viking! He can't possibly..._**

 ** _Except he does._**

The dragon stretched out his neck, closed his eyes, and gently pressed his snout into Hiccup's hand.

Hiccup almost flinched, then stared up in astonishment at the dragon, who stared right back. Then he sniffed and snorted. **"Wash your hands next time, human."**

And then he spun, dashing away, leaving Hiccup staring in surprise.

Himinn walked over, resting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup... do you know what you just did?"

Hiccup mutely shook his head.

"Bro... I think you just made friends with a dragon."

…

They got back to town in time for the Dragon Training evening supper, this time on a watchtower. Gobbler was just finishing up one of his tales. "...and I saw the look on his face. I was delicious! He must've spread the word, because it wasn't another month before one 'o 'em took off me leg!"

Fishlegs grinned enthusiastically and opened his mouth, but Jardar stopped him. "Legs... if this is, in any way, going to involve something gross... please. Just don't."

Snotlout was more than capable of filling the silence. "I swear, I'm so _angry_ right now! I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight!"

Then he stared at Astrid, and decided to be even more stupid. "With my face!"

Himinn, perched on top of the catapult, dropped one of her swords. The butt of the hilt struck him squarely on the middle of his helmet, and he slumped into unconsciousness.

Gobber chose to ignore this. "Nuh-uh! It's the wings and the tail that ya really want! If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon, is a dead dragon."

Hiccup heard this and instantly began thinking. _That Night Fury is missing a tailfin... the Mangler must've taken it off, and now he can't fly!_

And almost instantly, the solution hit him. He montioned to Himinn, who understood immediately. She sprang down from the catapult, landing beside Jardar. "Well, I'm getting pretty tired. I think I'll head home. See you later, Sweetie-Pie!"

Jardar blinked, then nodded in understanding, pecked her on the cheek, and bade her a merry farewell.

On their way down, Hiccup looked at his sister. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, Jardar and I made a system for that! If we ever need a distraction, we use a pet name as the signal. The others are in on it too, but we need a way for it to work since they don't have significant others."

"Huh. Clever. Wait, aren't the Thorstons making a contract for Scruffnut to marry Helen?"

"...actually, I dunno. I'll have to do some discreet questioning."

"Or you can just ask them."

"Yeah, but that's not as fun!"

"Fair enough."

…

They got to the forge, and Himinn immediately started asking questions. "So, why the forge?"

Hiccup explained his idea, and Himinn was suitably wowed. "You think you can do it?"

"I don't know. But I'm going to try. You gonna help?"

Himinn smirked widely. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

And as the moon shone in the sky, the Haddocks got to work.

 **…**

 **Yes, I know, it could've been longer, but as much as I want to get this story out, I still have prior commitments... and I'm also really freaking lazy. Until next time though, stay tuned!**


End file.
